SHARE

Iowa players huddle during a game. Photo by Jeff Yoder

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Iowa men's basketball players have taken a significant step to avoid the outside noise and negativity as they prepare to face either Illinois or Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournamert on Thursday in Chicago.

Sophomore center Luka Garza told the media on Tuesday that the players decided two games ago, with encouragement from the coaches, to stay off Twitter for the remainder of the season.

"We're just trying to stay locked in," Garza said about the decision to stay off Twitter. "I think that's a good way for the coaches and the players just to stay locked in. We're not really worried about what the fans are saying right now."

Iowa closed the regular-season with four consecutive losses, including blowing a 16-point lead in the second half at Nebraska this past Sunday, and that has caused some disgruntled fans to express their anger and frustration on Twitter.

"It was starting to get a little bit more amped up, especially with everything going on," Garza said. "So I think it was just a good, clean decision. I wasn't on Twitter too much anyway."

Iowa junior point guard Jordan Bohannon is usually pretty active on Twitter, but he understands why the decision was made as a team to stay off Twitter for the rest of the season.

"Just to focus on our team and not worry about outside distractions, " Bohannon said.

Iowa (21-9) is seeded sixth in the Big Ten Tournament and will face the winner of Wednesday's game between Illinois and Northwestern at approximately 8:30 p.m. on Thursday at the United Center in Chicago. Iowa swept Northwestern during the regular season and pounded Illinois 95-71 in their only meeting on Jan. 20th at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.